Nostalgia products generate positive emotions and happy memories, two powerful forces that can promote your brand. Provide employees, clients, and potential customers with retro promotional items to engage with these positive feelings. Vintage promotional items really connect with people during times of uncertainty, when people long for the simpler world of yesterday.
Pseudo-Nostalgia and Younger Generations
Nostalgia can affect people who never personally experienced the original era. Retro promotional items from the 1970s and 1980s attract members of Gen Z, for instance, who weren’t born during those decades. Popular TV shows like Stranger Things account for some pseudo nostalgia, and the internet plays a role: it’s so easy to access music, TV shows, and movies from previous eras, and many people find themselves longing for what they see and hear. It’s not true nostalgia, but powerful nonetheless.
Retro Products from the Sixties and Seventies
Compared to today, the 1960s and 1970s seem like a simpler times. They weren’t, of course, but nostalgia has a way of smoothing out the rough edges of life. When you’re nostalgic for the sixties, you don’t remember the looming war in Vietnam — you’re thinking of paisley-patterned blouses, high school varsity jackets, and polka-dot skirts. Here’s some retro promotional items from the eras of peace and love and disco funk:
Varsity Jackets
Sleeker than the original varsity jackets which inspired them, the Men's Hargrave Varsity Jacket and Women's Hargrave Varsity Jacket by Roots73 capture that feeling of yesteryear without sacrificing their modern looks.
Paisley Everything
Paisley patterns were a popular choice in the sixties and early seventies and are seeing a resurgence today (as are crocheted clothing, perhaps the most seventies fashion ever). Add some paisley nostalgia products to your next marketing campaign with these attractive customizable items:
Trucker Hats
CB radios and films like Convoy made trucker hats fashionable in the 1970s, and the adaptable cap has been popular ever since. Today, trucker hats are valued promotional items, and have even more impact when combined with retro looks. These trucker hats make exceptional nostalgic promotional items:
Bandanas
Bandanas and kerchiefs were some of the most kicking accessories of the 1970s, and make great vintage promotional items today when used as impromptu facemasks or to shield necks against the hot sun. Bandanas include:
Nostalgia Products from the Eighties
The 1980s remains one of the most important sources for vintage promotional items. Perhaps it’s not surprising that the decade of Wrestlemania, legwarmers, and big hair has remained so popular. For those who never experienced it, the eighties seemed like a big party, and in many ways, it was. It was a decade defined by quirky fads, larger-than-life action heroes, and some of the most toe-tapping tunes to ever hit the airways.
Rubik’s Cube
Of all the eighties fads, perhaps none has proven as long-lasting as the Rubik’s Cube, a brain-boggling puzzle that still makes a great promotional gift. Everyone had one in the eighties, making them ideal vintage promotional items. Choose from the classic Rubik's® 9-Panel Full Stock Cube, the simpler Rubik's® 4-Panel Full-Size Stock Cube, or the addictive Rubik's® Mini Twist-A-Snake.
Sweatbands
Sweatbands were all the rage during the aerobics craze of the 1980s. The popularity of athleisure brought wristbands back, although they’re very different from their cotton-terry ancestors. Today, you might wear a Reflective Wrist Band while running, monitor your health with an Activity Tracker Wristband, or prove you're ready for anything with a Crossover Outdoor Multi-Function Tactical Survival Band With Fire Starter.
Tie-Dyed Retro Promotional Items
Tie-dyed clothing may have had its heyday in the 1980s, but that doesn’t mean it disappeared. Today, Port and Company produce a range of bright, nostalgic tie-dyed clothing that bridges the gap between eighties style and modern fashion:
Nineties Vintage Promotional Items
Some elements of nineties fashion should remain locked away safely in the past (we’re looking at you, Hammer pants), but others are too appealing to limit to any one decade. From neon shirts to puffy vests, nineties nostalgia offers opportunities to link your brand to the decade that birthed younger millennials and older members of Gen Z. Anyone for a Friends or Seinfeld marathon?
Neon and the Nineties
Neon was everywhere in the early nineties. The bright colors and playfulness of neon would diminish as the decade moved into its grunge phase but are enjoying a resurgence today. Trigger memories of mallrats and neon leg warmers with these bright, nostalgic products:
Puffy Vests
Puffy vests were around before the nineties (think of Marty McFly’s iconic vest from Back to the Future), but they really became a fashion staple in the nineties. Port Authority has capitalized on nineties nostalgia with its collection of puffy vests, including the Men's Packable Puffer Vest, the Ladies Packable Puffer Vest, and the Packable Puffer Jacket.
The nineties were also a popular time for flannel shirts, hoodies, overalls, butterfly clips, and jelly sandals, all of which have potential as nostalgia products today. Check out Triple Crown Products for more vintage promotional items, or contact us today to discover nostalgia products for your next marketing campaign.